Rice syrup sweetener

ABSTRACT

Whole grain rice, either white or brown rice, is liquefied and treated with high levels of a glucosidase enzyme and/or a combination with beta-amylase enzyme in a saccharification step. Total enzymatic reaction time is limited to about four hours for both the liquefaction and saccharification steps combined to prevent the development of undesirable off-flavors. The product of the saccharification step is partially clarified to remove substantially all rice fiber, but not other nutritional values and then concentrated to produce a preferred rice syrup sweetener which is cloudy in character and has a solids composition defined as follows: 
     
         ______________________________________                                    
 
    
     Soluble Complex Carbohydrates                                             
                  About 10 to 70% of solids;                              
Maltose           About 0 to 70% of solids;                               
Glucose           About 5 to 70% of solids;                               
Ash or Minerals   About 0.1 to 0.6% of solids;                            
Protein and Fat   About 1 to 3.5% of solids;                              
______________________________________                                    
 
     The rice syrup sweetener of the invention can be dried to produce dried rice sweeteners.

This application is a division of application Ser. No. 06/856,300, nowU.S. Pat. No. 4,756,912, filed Apr. 28, 1986.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an enzymatic method for producing acloudy, hypo-allergenic and nutritious rice syrup sweetener which can beused either as a beverage or in a variety of food products as well as aproduct of the method.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Clarity has been generally considered one of the prime requirements inprior art commerical syrups or sweeteners such as corn syrup, maplesyrup, and sorghum syrup. In the normal preparation of syrup from grain,for example, corn syrup from corn grain, the starch component is firstseparated from the grain. This initial separation or removal of fat,protein, cellulose, color and flavor bodies from the grain preventsthose components from interfering with or inhibiting preparation of thesyrup.

In the separation of starch from the corn grain, sulfur dioxide iscommonly used which to some degree remains in the starch and finds itsway into the final syrup as an undesirable constituent.

More particularly, many of the above mentioned constituents interferewith starch dextrinizing or liquefaction and saccharification action.Tha bove mentioned difficulties are such that most commercial syrups aremade from a recovered or separated starch component of the grain. Theliquefaction and saccharification reactions are usually carried out overextended periods of time, for example, six to twenty-four hours orlonger.

Recently, increased commercial interest has developed in nutritionalsyrups which, in addition to sweetness from sugars such as maltose andglucose, also include nutritional factors such as proteins, minerals andcomplex carbohydrates which are usually removed in normal syrupproduction.

However, with grain products of the type referred to above, many peoplehave demonstrated allergic reactions particularly to cereal grains suchas corn and wheat as well as products derived from those grains.

Accordingly, there has been found a need for a low allergenic syrup orsweetener which can be used in place of sweeteners of the type describedabove. At the same time, there is a need or a commercial market for suchsyrups or sweeteners which retain a relatively high level of nutritionalfactors while also containing acceptable levels of sugars such asmaltose and glucose to achieve a suitable sweetening effect.

Another invention set forth separately entitled Nutritional Rice MilkProduct and Method of Production, filed contemporaneously with thepresent case in an application co-pending with the above noted parent,06/856,300 filed Apr. 24, 1966, now U.S Pat. No. 4,744,992; entitledNUTRITIONAL RICE MILK PRODUCTION and assigned to California NaturalProducts is related to the present invention and is accordinglyincorporated herein by reference as though set forth in its entirety.The above noted reference involves rice milk or modified amazakeproducts which are formed by generally the same steps employed for therice syrup sweetener product of the present invention. However, as afinal step, the rice syrup sweeteners of this invention are partiallyclarified, preferably by sieving and centrifuging in order to removesubstantially all rice fiber. That reference is accordingly incorporatedherein to the extent that it may be of assistance in disclosing andfacilitating a further understanding of the present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a nutritional,non-allergenic rice syrup sweetener which can readily be used in placeof many commercial syrups or sweeteners as described above while alsoproviding a method for producing the rice syrup sweetener. Morepreferably, the rice syrup sweetener of the invention has a cloudycharacter or appearance due to the presence of nutritional factorsincluding minerals, proteins and fat.

It is a further related object of the invention to provide such a ricesyrup sweetener which is produced by a method employing whole grain riceas a starting material. The rice syrup sweetener of the invention isproduced from ground white or brown rice, for example, by liquefactionor dextrinization of steamed or cooked rice to form a liquefied slurrywhich is then reacted with relatively high levels of glucosidase enzymeeither alone or in combination with a beta-amylase enzyme to produce arice syrup sweetener having various desired characteristics. Morepreferably, the saccharification step is carried out with from about 440to 2,200 Diazyme Units of a glucosidase enzyme per kilogram of wholegrain rice with optionally a beta-amylase enzyme from about 1,000 to3,000 DP° per kilogram of whole grain rice. The amount and/orproportions of the glucosidase enzume alone or in combination with thebeta-amylase enzyme can be varied according to the present invention toproduce rice syrup sweeteners having varying concentratins ofcomponents, particularly maltose and glucose. Accordingly, the solidscomposition of the rice syrup sweetener of the invention is as follows:

    ______________________________________                                        Soluble Complex Carbohydrates                                                                    About 10 to 70% of solids;                                 Maltose            About 0 to 70% of solids;                                  Glucose            About 5 to 70% of solids;                                  Ash or Minerals    About 0.1 to 0.6% of solids;                               Proteins and Fat   About 1 to 3.5% of solids.                                 ______________________________________                                    

From the above composition, it may be seen that the non-carbohydratenutritional elements of the rice syrup sweetener include ash orminerals, protein and fat, forming about 1.1 to 4.1% of solids in thecomposition.

Following the saccharification step referred to above, thesaccharification product is partially clarified to remove substantiallyall rice fiber and then concentrated so that the finished rice syrupsweetener preferably comprises from about 70 to 82% soluble solids.

The concentration of glucosidase enzyme and the concentration ofoptionally employed beta-amylase enzyme in the saccharification step areset forth respectively in Diazyme Units and DP°. These standards areemployed with the following explanation to assure a proper understandingof the invention. In that regard, the term "DP°" refers to Degrees ofDiastic Power. A further definition as well as an extensive assayprocedure in connection with that term is set forth for example in FoodChemicals Codex, third edition, beginning at page 484.

The term "Diazyme Units" refers to a Diazyme assay commerciallyavailable from Miles Laboratories, Inc., Elkhart, Ind. That term isemployed herein at least partially since one glucosidase enzyme foundsuitable for use in the present invention comprises glucoamylase E.C.3.2.1.3, 1, 4 - alpha - D-Glucan Glucohydrolase, unit activity of about200 Diazyme Units/ml. (available under the trade name Diazyme from MilesLaboratories, Inc., Elkhart, Indiana).

It is yet a further object of the invention to concentrate the ricesyrup sweetener to include about 70 to 82% solids as noted above.However, it is an even further object of the invention to form a driedversion of the rice syrup sweetener which can be employed either in itsdried form or stored and later reconstituted for example to form a ricesyrup sweetener with approximately 70 to 82% solids as noted above.

It is a still further object to provide a rice syrup sweetener usingwhole grain rice as a starting material and employing a beta-amylaseenzyme of at least 1,000 DP° per kilogram of whole grain rice in asaccharification step limited to about three hours. This process hasbeen found to yield a high maltose rice syrup sweetener which isnutritional and non-allergenic while also being characterized by freedomfrom a rice-like flavor and a cloudy appearance because of thenutritional values remaining from the whole grain rice startingmaterial.

Substantially greater amounts of the beta-amylase enzyme may be used ifdesired. However, it has generally been found to be preferred to useabout 1,000 to 3,000 DP° of beta-amylase per kilogram of whole grainrice to economically achieve the advantages of the invention. This highmaltose rice syrup sweetener may also be converted to a dried product.

In connection with the present invention, additional objects andadvantages referred to in the specification incorporated above byreference are also of importance in connection with the presentinvention.

Additional objects and advantages of this invention are also madeapparent in the following description.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

As in the incorporated reference set forth above, the rice syrupsweetener of the present invention is formed by initially selectingwhole grain rice, either white rice (polished) or brown rice(unpolished). Preferably, the rice is ground or divided to formparticles of from about 10 to 60 mesh.

The ground rice particles are liquefied or dextrinized preferably in awater slurry by treatment with an alphaamylase enzyme at 30-100°C. wherethe enzymatic reaction duration for the liquefaction step is limited toabout one hour to prevent development of undesirable off-flavors.

The liquefied slurry is then saccharified with relatively high levels ofa glucosidase enzyme either alone or in optional combination with avariable amount of betaamylase enzyme to produce a solids composition asset forth above.

The saccharified product is then partially clarified to removesubstantially all rice fibers while leaving substantially all othernutritional values including ash or minerals, protein, fat, vitamins,etc. in the partially clarified product which can then be concentrated,preferably to about 70 to 82% solids. As noted above, the rice syrupsweetener of the invention may also be dried to form a dried syrup orsweetener which is non-allergenic and still contains many of thenutrient values referred to above. The dried syrup or sweetener mayeither be used in its dried form in various food products or it may bestored and later reconstituted to form the rice syrup sweetener referredto above.

Additional preferred features of the process and product of theinvention are set forth below. Prior to the statement of examplesillustrating both the method and product of the invention.

As noted above, the process of the invention includes whole grain riceas a starting material with reaction conditions such as temperature, pH,time of reaction, type and concentration of enzyme being particularlyselected to result in the desirable rice syrup sweetener referred toabove.

In particular, it has been discovered that a high level of saccharifyingenzyme and a relatively limited enzymatic reaction time or duration ofabout to two to four hours (for both liquefaction and saccharification)are required to produce the rice syrup sweetener of the invention. Theselimitations result in a rice syrup sweetener which is nutritious andgenerally free from a rice-like flavor. At the same time, thenutritional values remain in the rice syrup sweetener from the wholegrain rice starting material.

The saccharification step preferably employs a glucosidase enzyme, forexample, a glucoamylase, E.C.3.2.1.3 1,4-alpha-D-Glucan having a unitactivity of 200 Diazyme Units per ml and available for example under thetrade name Diazyme from Miles Laboratories, Inc., Elkhart, Indiana.Similar glucosidase enzymes are commercially available for example fromNovo Industries of Denmark and from The FinnSugar Group of Finland.Preferably, from about 440 to about 2,200 Diazyme Units of theglucosidase enzyme are employed in the saccharification step perkilogram of whole grain rice particles.

The glucosidase enzyme referred to above may be employed either alone inthe saccharification step or in combination with a beta-amylase enzymehaving an activity from about 1,000 to 3,000 DP° per kilogram of wholegrain rice as defined above. The amounts of the glucosidase enzyme andoptional amounts of beta-amylase enzyme may be varied in order toproduce rice syrup sweeteners having the composition referred to above.Additional details concerning these enzymes are set forth in the aboveincorporated reference.

In the dextrinizing or liquefaction step, the alphaamylase enzyme ispreferably employed at levels of from 2,400,000 to 3,600,000 modifiedWohlgemuth Units (modified Wohlegmuth method assembly, MilesLaboratories, Inc., Elkhart, Indiana 46514).

Preferably, the enzymatic reaction time for the liquefaction step islimited to about one hour and the enzymatic reaction time for thesaccharification step is limited to about two to three hours. In thismanner, desired enzymatic conversion is permitted within the respectivesteps while preventing undesirable development of off-flavors due forexample to rancidity and enzyme activity on the non-starch fractions ofthe rice. The shortened reaction times for the liquefaction andsaccharification steps also minimizes undesirable bacterial action whichsometimes takes place with longer reaction times.

The saccharification reaction is preferably carried out at about thenormal pH of rice (about 6.3) or in a preferred range of 6 to 6.5.However, it is also possible for the saccharification step to be carriedout with an adjusted pH for example in the range of about 3.5 to 7. Sucha broad range of pH level may be desirable to enhance enzyme activityunder certain conditions.

After completion of the saccharification reaction or step, thesaccharification product or slurry is sieved through a 100 mesh sieve orscreen and the resulting solution is centrifuged in a partialclarification step.

The partially clarified product is then concentrated, preferably undervacuum conditions at about 71° C. to form the resulting rice syrupsweetener with a solids concentration of about 70 to 82% (solublesolids). As noted above, the rice syrup sweetener is characterized by acloudy nature or color.

The rice syrup sweetener can be further dried to remove substantiallyall water in order to form a dried syrup or sweetening agent which issimilarly non-allergenic while being characterized by many of theadvantageous features referred to above. The dried sweetener is commonlyreferred to as a sugar and may be employed either in its dried form orstored and later reconstituted to form a liquid rice syrup sweetener asdescribed above. To more particularly described the various enzymesystems, the dextrinization or liquefaction step is preferably carriedout with enzymes having alpha-amylase activity common for example tomicroorganisms such as Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus licheniformis or afungal source such as Aspergillus oryzae. The enzymes can be used in apH range of from about 3.5 to 7.5 and at a temperature range of fromabout 30° C. to 100° C.

The saccharification step is carried out with a glucosidase enzymeeither alone or in combination with a beta-amylase enzyme. Suchglucosidase enzymes are typically produced by microorganisms selectedfrom Rhizopus or Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus oryzae, Mucor species,Endomyces Species, Endomyces fibuliger, Chlostridum and Acetobutylicum.Beta-amylase enzymes are typically extracted from the following grains:barley, wheat, rye, sweet potato or soy beans.

The rice syrup sweetener produced by the invention can be used ingenerally the same manner as commercial corn sweeteners or other similarsyrups and sweeteners. However, it is again noted that the rice syrupsweetener of the present invention have a number of special properties.In particular, the fact that the rice syrup sweetener is substantiallynon-allergenic suggests a number of applications for which the productis particularly suited. The corresponding dried syrup or sweeteningagent can also be termed "rice sugar" and can be used as a replacementfor normal glucose or sucrose in many applications again noting thepreferred advantages of the product of the invention as set forth above.

Having outlined and summarized the method and product of the invention,representative procedures for producing various products according tothe ivnention are set forth in the following detailed examples.

EXAMPLE 1 High Maltose Rice Syrup Sweetener

Forty-five kilograms of milled brown rice were sifted through a 30 meshscreen and added to 100 liters of water at 25° C. having a calciumcontent of 200 ppm. The combination was stirred in a steam jacketedkettle of 225 liter capacity.

One hundred grams of bacterial alpha-amylase of Bacillus subtilis originhaving an activity of 1,200,000 modified Wohlgemuth units per gram wereadded and the temperature of the suspension raised to 80° C. by passingsteam through the jacketed kettle. The mixture was held at 80° C. forthirty minutes after which the temperature was raised to 100° C. andheld at that level for an additional 15 minutes.

The slurry was cooled to 60° C. and 50 ml. of barley malt beta-amylase,having an activity of 1500 DP° per ml were added along with 100 mls. ofglucosidase enzyme, specifically Diazyme, with an activity of 200Diazyme Units per ml.

The slurry was held at 60° C. for 90 minutes and then sieved or screenedthrough a 100 mesh stainless steel screen and centrifuged to removeremaining insoluble particles, particularly rice fibers. However, asnoted above, the screen mesh was selected to pass other nutritionalvalues including ash or minerals, proteins, fat, vitamins, etc.

The solution obtained from the centrifuge was concentrated in a vacuumat 71° C. to a soluble solids content of 77%.

The syrup was characterized by a cloudy nature or appearance and had thefollowing analysis: Dextrose equivalent --42, glucose--8%, maltose--35%,maltotriose-13%, higher complex saccharides--49%, protein--0.6%, ash orminerals--0.4%, carbohydrates--74% total, fat--2.0% (all of the above asa percentage of solids) and moisture or water about 23%. Reaction pHduring both liquefaction and saccharification was about 6.3. As notedabove, rice fiber was essentially removed in the classification step sothat it did not form a component of the resulting cloudy rice syrupsweetener.

EXAMPLE 2 High Glucose Rice Syrup Sweetener

Forty-five kilograms of ground white rice sieved to pass through a 40mesh screen were placed in a steam jacketed kettle containing 80 litersof water at 25° C containing 100 ppm calcium ion.

To this mixture with constant stirring was added 100 grams of bacterialalpha-amylase of Bacillus subtilis origin with an activity of 1,200,000modified Wohlgemuth units per gram. The temperature of the stirredslurry was increased to 80° C. and held at that temperature for thirtyminutes. The temperature was then raised to 100° C. and the mixture heldthere for another 15 minutes.

The mixture was cooled to 60° C. and 450 ml. Glucoamylase E.C.3.2.1.3.1,4-alpha-D-Glucan with a unit activity of 200 Diazyme Units ml. added.

The slurry was held at 60° C. for three hours then sieved through a 100mesh screen and insoluble particles further separated by centrifugation.

The liquors were concentrated in a vacuum at 71° C. to a soluble solidscontent of 78%.

The resulting cloudy tan colored syrup had the following analysis:Dextrose Equivalent 57; glucose 32%; maltose 21%; maltotriose 3%, highercomplex carbohydrates 42%, protein 0.5%; ash 0.3%; carbohydrates 76.4%;fat 0.8%; moisture 22%. Fiber was essentially absent in the cloudy tancolored syrup.

EXAMPLE 3 Dried Rice Syrup Sweetener or Rice Sugar

The rice syrup sweetener of EXAMPLE 1 was poured into the pinch of adouble rotating drum dryer with the temperature of the drum surfacesmaintained at about 160° C. The dried rice syrup sweetener or sugar wasscraped from the drums with doctor blades and ground in a Stokes TornadoMill to about 100 mesh forming a mildly sweet, off-white powder havingcharacteristics otherwise as described above.

EXAMPLE 4 High Maltose-Low Glucose Rice Syrup Sweetener

EXAMPLE 1 was repeated except that no glucosidase enzyme was employed inthe saccharification step.

This resulted in a high maltose rice syrup sweetener having a dextroseequivalent of about 38, glucose about 3%, maltose about 40% andotherwise having a composition and characteristics similar to the ricesyrup sweetener of EXAMPLE 1. In particular, the high maltose rice syrupsweetener was found capable of drying in the same manner set forth inEXAMPLE 3 to yield a dried high maltose rice syrup sweetener.

EXAMPLES 1, 2 and 4 are particularly representative of a variety ofproducts which can be produced according to the present invention andhaving the range of compositions set forth above in the Summary of theInvention. The resulting rice syrup sweetener can of course beconcentrated to a variety of concentrations. In addition, the rice syrupsweetener of the invention may be completely dried as indicated inEXAMPLE 3 to form a dried product or sugar which may for example be usedeither in its dried form or stored and reconstituted to form a ricesyrup sweetener as described above in EXAMPLES 1 and 2.

Additional variations and modifications of the invention are believedobvious in addition to those set forth above. Accordingly, the scope ofthe invention is defined only by the following appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A rice syrup sweetener product formed by a methodcomprising the steps ofselecting as a starting material a whole grainrice and dividing it into particles of reduced size, liquifying thewhole grain rice particles with an alpha-amylase enzyme in an aqueousmedium substantially free from protease, in an amount and for a periodof time sufficient to form a liquid slurry, treating the liquid slurrywith a glucosidase enzyme in a saccharification step in an amount andfor a period of time less than about three hours for yielding asaccharification product have a glucose of content of about 5 to 70%solids, clarifying the saccharification product to remove substantiallyall rice fiber to form a partially clarified product, and concentratingthe partially clarified product to produce the rice syrup sweetenerproduct having a protein content on a dry-weight basis of less thanabout 3.5%, the product being colloidal or non-filtratable.
 2. Theproduct of claim 1 wherein about 440 to 2,200 Diazyme Units ofglucosidase per kilogram of whole grain rice particles are employed inthe saccharification step and up to about 3,000 BP° of beta-amylaseenzyme per kilogram of whole grain rice particles are also employed inthe saccharification step with the resulting partially clarified producthaving total solids of at least about 70%, balance essentially water,with a composition of:

    ______________________________________                                        Soluble complex carbohydrates                                                                    about 10 to 70% of solids;                                 Maltose            about 0 to 70% of solids;                                  Glucose            about 5 to 70% of solids;                                  Non-carbohydrate                                                              nutritional components                                                                           about 1 to 5% of solids;                                   and substantially no fiber.                                                   ______________________________________                                    


3. The product of claim 2 wherein the concentrating step of the methodis selected for reducing the rice syrup sweetener to about 70 to 82%total solids.
 4. The product of claim 2 wherein the starting material isselected as whole grain rice particles and the liquifaction,saccharification and clarification steps are selected so that theresulting rice syrup sweetener product has nutritional componentscomprising ash or mineral at about 0.1 to 0.6% of solids and protein andfat at about 1 to 3.5% of solids.
 5. The product of claim 3 wherein thethe method further comprises the step of drying the rice syrup sweetenerproduct to substantially remove water and thereby form a dried ricesyrup sweetener product.
 6. The product of claim 2 wherein the themethod further comprises the step of drying the rice syrup sweetenerproduct to substantially remove water and thereby form a dried ricesyrup sweetener product.
 7. The product of claim 1 wherein the themethod further comprises the step of drying the rice syrup sweetenerproduct to substantially remove water and thereby form a dried ricesyrup sweetener product.
 8. A rice syrup sweetener product formed by amethod comprising the steps ofselecting as a starting material a wholegrain rice and dividing it into particles of reduced size, combining thewhole grain rice particles with an alphaamylase enzyme in a liquifactionstep substantially free from protease in an amount sufficient and for aperiod of time limited in enzymatic reaction duration to about one hourin order to form a liquid slurry while permitting desired enzymaticliquifaction and preventing development of undesirable, rancid,flat-sour flavors, treating the liquid slurry with an enzymatic systemcomprising a glucosidase enzyme of at least about 440 Diazyme Units perkilogram of whole grain rice particles in a saccharification steplimited in enzymatic reaction duration to about three hours, the amountof glucosidase enzyme and the enzyme reaction duration being sufficientto permit desired enzymatic reaction while preventing development ofundesirable, rancid, flat-sour flavors, clarifying the saccharificationproduct to remove substantially all rice fibers to form a partiallyclarified product, and concentrating the partially clarified product toproduce the rice syrup sweetener having a protein content of less thanabout 3.5%, the product being colloidal or non-filtratable.
 9. Theproduct of claim 8 wherein glucosidase and beta-amylase enzymes areemployed in combination in the saccharification step to yield asaccharification product having at least about 70% solids with acomposition of:

    ______________________________________                                        Soluble complex carbohydrates                                                                    about 10 to 70% of solids;                                 Maltose            about 0 to 70% of solids;                                  Glucose            about 5 to 70% of solids;                                  Non-carbohydrate                                                              nutritional components                                                                           about 1 to 5% of solids;                                   and substantially no fiber.                                                   ______________________________________                                    


10. The product of claim 9 wherein the starting material is selected aswhole grain rice particles and the liquifaction, saccharification andclarification steps are selected to yield the rice syrup sweetenerproduct having nutritional components comprising ash or minerals atabout 0.1 to 0.6% of solids and protein and fat at about 1 to 3.5% ofsolids.
 11. A rice syrup sweetener product characterized by substantialabsence of a rice-like flavor while being colloidal or non-filtratablewith a protein content of less than about 3.5% and at least about 70%total solids, balance essentially water, comprising:

    ______________________________________                                        Soluble complex carbohydrates                                                                    about 10 to 70% of solids;                                 Maltose            about 0 to 70% of solids;                                  Glucose            about 5 to 70% of solids;                                  ______________________________________                                    


12. The rice syrup sweetener product of claim 11 whereinnon-carbohydrate nutritional components in the rice syrup sweetenerproduct comprise ash or minerals at about 0.1 to 0.6% solids and proteinand fat at about 1 to 3.5% of solids.
 13. The rice syrup sweetenerproduct of claim 12 being dried to substantially remove water and form adried rice sweetener product.
 14. The rice syrup sweetener productformed by a method comprising the steps ofselecting as a startingmaterial a whole grain rice and dividing it into particles of reducedsize, liquifying the whole grain rice particles with an alpha-amylaseenzyme in an aqueous medium substantially free from protease in anamount and for a period of time sufficient to form a liquid slurry,treating the liquid slurry with a beta-amylase enzyme in asaccharification step wherein at least about 1,000 BP° of beta-amylaseenzyme per kilogram of whole grain rice particles are employed in thesaccharification step and the reaction time for the saccharificationstep is limited to about three hours, the amount of beta-amylase enzymeand the reaction time being further selected to prevent development ofoff-flavors, clarifying the saccharification product to removesubstantially all rice fiber to form a partially clarified product, andconcentating the partially clarified product to produce the rice syrupsweetener product from the whole grain rice.
 15. The rice syrupsweetener product of claim 14 wherein the method further comprises thestep of drying the rice syrup sweetener product to substantially removewater in order to form a dried rice syrup sweetener product.